First Prince of Ming Dynasty

In a patriarchal society, the blood relationship determines that the royal family is the circle closest to the center of the ripples, and only when this circle forms a perfect circle can the power of dripping water spread farther.

From the feudal relatives of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, starting with Fanping Zhou, the main role of the clan is to defend the royal family. The emperor is the core of the entire state machine. He does not exist in isolation. He needs a community of interests that ripples round and round. Manage the country and consolidate the rule.

Zhu Biao is very aware of where his roots are, but he is by no means indulging them without limit. The royal family system in Han, Tang and Song Dynasties has a limit, and the treatment of the royal family in Ming Dynasty is too much.

In the early Han Dynasty, although the clan kings were also widely granted, since Emperor Wu implemented the decree of favor, the problems of the clan have been alleviated for the most part. From Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Zhaolie of the Han Dynasty, we can know that if there is no meritorious service for a long time, the children of the clan will eventually die. marketplace.

In the early Tang Dynasty, officials were donated to elevate the status of Li Tang's clan and officials in order to maintain the rule of the dynasty. However, the range of the clan in the Tang Dynasty was wider. The meritorious officials given the surname are also admitted to the Zongzheng Temple and regarded as the clan.

However, the Tang system also stipulated that the fifth-class people were not relatives. Relatives outside the fifth class were given land and sent to places outside the capital to support themselves, which was equivalent to common people. Therefore, the number of people supported by the state was always controllable.

Moreover, after the Anshi Rebellion, all the children of the royal family were abandoned without a position, or wandered in other counties, buried in oblivion, no different from ordinary...

When Zhu Biao pondered for a moment, the Minister of Rites got up again. The people below were small and looked down on the excitement, but his status was destined to be unavoidable. Even if the emperor returned to Beijing, he would not be too difficult for the prince. Your Highness, after all, is the beloved son who has been cherished for many years.

"Dare to ask Your Highness, my court ritual system mostly follows the Tang Dynasty system, but Your Highness plans to return to the Tang Dynasty's clan system?"

Zhu Biao shook his head when he heard this and said: "After the Wu Zhou Dynasty, Xuanzong treated Song Wang Chengqi and other kings with great kinship and friendship, but he devoted himself to raising and entertaining them with food, clothing, sensuality and entertainment, and did not take care of them. As a result, although many descendants of the clan were in the capital, the young If you don't leave the court, even though you are in the name of a king, you are no different from ordinary people, which is not what I want."

Minister of the Ministry of Rites breathed a sigh of relief. If the crown prince really planned to do this, he would have to beg for his bones and return home. It would not matter if some changes were made in some places, but if there were irreconcilable conflicts between the political views of the emperor and the prince, then But it's about to bleed like a river.

Zhu Biao glanced at him and didn't say much. Tang Xuanzong experienced the period when the kings of Li and Tang were slaughtered indiscriminately during the Wu Zhou period. He must be wary of his relatives and relatives. Sincerely caring, but it does not prevent him from suppressing it deliberately.

Xuanzong's methods suppressed the emperor's relatives, but the power must still be issued, which led to a large number of expansion of the garrison army town, the feudal town's Jiedu envoys control the local military power, and have the administrative, financial and personnel jurisdiction of several states under their jurisdiction. obvious.

As clans that were expensive because of relatives, they were naturally an extension of the emperor's tentacles, and it would be wrong to completely abandon them for leisure. The main issue was to balance and restrict appointments.

Moreover, the current situation in Ming Dynasty has also decided that the clan must take over the military power of the local warriors. Otherwise, once they are allowed to operate in the local area for a long time, they will cause the danger of separatism. More trustworthy than outsiders.

Zhu Biao looked at the part of the job system stipulated in the ancestral precepts. At present, it seems that Lao Zhu still has certain expectations for the clan's children. It is stipulated that all princes and grandchildren who are capable of being appointed by the clan will be tested by the court with their reputation. , In exchange for official positions, the promotion and transfer are as usual.

This is different from the policy of completely treating the clan as pigs after Zhu Di seized the throne in history. Zhu Biao also hopes that the clan's children can contribute to the country, instead of just eating, drinking, having fun and having babies.

What happened to the descendants of the clan in the middle of the Ming Dynasty? The generals and lieutenants of the palace moved tens of thousands. Although they damaged the savings of the inner palace and exhausted all the taxes in the world, how could Xi be enough to support them?

The people of the living people even had to discard their chopsticks, buy houses, donate money, and sell themselves to provide for the kingdom's wealth.

On the one hand, the clan system after Zhu Di brought a heavy financial burden to the imperial court. The cost of suzerain vassals was close to half of the imperial court’s taxes. This eventually became one of the main reasons for the decline of the Ming Dynasty. The sons of the clan who serve the country have no way to serve the country, so they can only be pigs wholeheartedly, otherwise they have ulterior motives.

Zhu Biao opened his mouth and said: "The so-called gentleman's fortune will be cut off for the fifth generation, but this stipulates that below the sixth generation's grandson, it is really inappropriate for the generation to grant Fengguo Lieutenant to lead the age and enjoy the country's support. How can it be shameful for the five generations to have no merit for the family and the country?" Have fun."

Several people from the Imperial Academy and the Ministry of Rites immediately bowed down happily: "His Royal Highness is wise."

Zhu Biao ignored them and then pointed and ordered: "Also here, the prince's second son and concubine, aged up to ten years old, are all named county kings? No, the prince's concubine are all named generals of the town, and their descendants will descend from generation to generation."

A county prince is also a prince, and there are quite a lot of salary set by the imperial court. If you follow Lao Zhu's idea, then for the prince, every additional son is born to an additional county prince's income. The more, the better the princes' standard of living.

The princes of the Ming Dynasty may not be able to live better than King Jing of Zhongshan in the Han Dynasty, but if they really let go of life, it will not be much worse. They are all princes, and there is no shortage of women. The cattle on this farm have all the strength, and they are afraid of producing food. Is the field not enough?

Therefore, for the clan, fewer and better births are beneficial to the country and the people.

Zhu Biao then turned to the provision of the camp. At present, the prince's annual salary is 4,800 stones of grain, 4,800 bolts of silk, and 450 catties of cotton. After a long hesitation, he decided to leave it alone.

My own father is also at this age, and how many more sons he can give birth to, the total number is the same. After all, the country has just been founded, the royal family is thin, and there are only two grandchildren, Yang Er and Liang Er.

After speaking in general, the Minister of Rites led them back with a bitter face. After the modification was completed according to the prince's intention, he would show it to him again, and he had to be more careful about the details.

After they left, Zhu Biao relaxed and leaned on the back of the chair. Only by adopting a son can he know his parents' kindness. He now has two sons. According to his arrangement, except for the line that inherits the throne, other children and grandchildren will gradually disappear. People, after five or six generations, they will worry about their livelihood again.

But that’s okay. In the old days, Wang Xietang Qianyan flew into the homes of ordinary people. The royal family, as the emperor’s blood relatives, was at the focus of power. .

Moreover, misfortunes depend on blessings, and blessings depend on misfortunes. When the dynasty is in peace, the royal family can exploit the people with privileges and live a life of extravagance and pleasure, but once the dynasty collapses, these last royal families often need to spend their blood , To pay off debts for the extravagance and lust of oneself and one's ancestors, and suffer a more tragic fate than ordinary people.

Being oblivious to the crowd is the real way of preservation. Besides, if they are really determined, it’s not like they haven’t been given a way to rise up. At that time, whether they are working in Ming Dynasty from Wen Xiwu or become kings overseas, it’s all possible. .

It’s just that most people who were born in happiness will choose to enjoy wealth and honor in peace. As for the well-being of their children and grandchildren, it is that the children and grandchildren have their own blessings.

Just like the second child and the third child, maybe a few years ago, they still had the ambition to establish a country overseas and become the real king of life and death, but now it seems that they have no such ambition.

The second child was obsessed with womanizing, and the third child obviously saw that Zhu Biao wanted to support a younger brother to sit on the patriarchal edict, and tried his best to obtain a position, a prominent and stable position in the Ming Dynasty.

The fifth child is stable by nature, and I am afraid that he is reluctant to leave his homeland. As for the other younger brothers, they still can't see it. At present, it seems that the fourth child can take on this important task, be the pioneer of the clan, and pave another way for them.

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